ABC’s The Good Doctor continues to earn high praise and accolades from critics and fans alike. Series star Freddie Highmore is winning over hearts everywhere for his role as Dr. Shaun Murphy, a young surgeon with autism and savant syndrome, however, long before he became The Good Doctor, he had already won over the heart of Ellen Degeneres.

Highmore appeared on Ellen today to talk about the series and, while he was there, Ellen took him on a quick trip down memory lane – back to his first appearance on her talk show.

Highmore was only 12 years old when he first appeared on Ellen and he was promoting his film Finding Neverland. While the most adorable photo of a young Freddie Highmore appears on the screen, Ellen asks him if he remembers his first time on her show. Highmore responded by saying with a chuckle, “It was the first time I had done one of these things on my own and I had been left to my own devices. For some reason, they just let me a little loose with you but, it was good.”

Of course, Ellen had a clip of his first appearance to share with the audience and with Highmore. The adorable clip displays a hidden musical talent which Highmore clearly worked very hard to master during his younger years. His talent? Playing not one but two recorders using just his nostrils! Now 25 years old, Highmore seems a bit embarrassed about his musical performance all those years ago but, honestly, we’d love to see an encore!

In addition to this trip down memory lane, we also learned that Highmore can speak a number of foreign languages including Arabic, in order to master his American dialect on The Good Doctor he maintains his faux American accent for the duration of the filming day and he sincerely apologizes for whatever he may have done to offend the people of Kansas.

Check out the adorable clip below and full interview:

From Sony Pictures Television and ABC Studios, The Good Doctor stars Freddie Highmore as Dr. Shaun Murphy, Antonia Thomas as Dr. Claire Browne, Nicholas Gonzalez as Dr. Neil Melendez, Chuku Modu as Dr. Jared Kalu, Beau Garrett as Jessica Preston, Hill Harper as Dr. Marcus Andrews, Richard Schiff as Dr. Aaron Glassman and Tamlyn Tomita as Allegra Aoki. The series is written by David Shore (House). Shore is also an executive producer along with Daniel Dae Kim (Lost, Hawaii Five-O), David Kim and Sebastian Lee.

The Good Doctor airs Mondays at 10 PM EST on ABC. What do you think of Freddie Highmore’s hidden musical talent? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!

A self-proclaimed nerd, karaoke junkie, craft beer enthusiast and lover of all things pop culture, Denise enjoys all facets of entertainment from Broadway to box office blockbusters. In her spare time, she enjoys photography, concerts (lots and lots of concerts), volunteering, reading and playing with her rescue kitten, Samantha (who rescued who, right?). Denise currently resides in Long Island, New York and is honored to be a part of the Fan Fest News team!